New transport network in southern Germany

Rail-bound traffic plays an important role in meeting people’s travel needs and reducing the transport sector’s climate footprint.

The population centre of the district of Unterallgäu, Germany is well served by long-distance and regional rail services at Memmingen station. Within the district itself, especially around the city of Memmingen, regional trains pass the villages along the railway line without stopping. As a result, the emerging communities are still only connected by bus, with unattractive journey times and additional necessary transfers. At the same time, the potential of the trains running at regular intervals is not yet fully exploited.

Starting in the Ulm/Neu-Ulm area, the project “Regio-S-Bahn Donau-Iller” (RSB-DI) is to establish an attractive local transport service on the existing railway lines.

Sweco is responsible for the necessary planning services for six new, barrier-free railway stops in the Memmingen area. These include the design surveying and the object planning for the traffic facilities, the engineering structures/structural planning and the technical equipment. Sweco’s experts take over the planning of almost all trades on the basis of the design survey for the stops and the associated Park+Ride and Bike+Ride facilities.

The client is provided with an overall planning from a single source. This includes platforms, platform accesses (stairs and ramps), drainage and, at one of the six stops, an additional track including an overhead line. For one platform access, a Sweco team is also planning a new railway overpass, which will underpass a new pedestrian and cycle link. Last but not least, all existing level crossings located in the affected area around the planned stops must be examined in terms of safety and construction against the background of higher train numbers in the future and, if necessary, brought up to the current state of the art.

Design survey is completed, and preliminary drafts are discussed with the involved authorities. The goal is to put into operation the six new railway stops in December 2025.

The six new railway stops will be an important step towards sustainable mobility by rail in and around the city of Memmingen. They will enable the so-called “Regio-S-Bahn Donau-Iller” to serve as a connector between the Ulm/Neu-Ulm region and the district of Unterallgäu.

Sweco is proud to contribute to this important step and thus expands its services in the field of railway planning in southern Germany, as Sweco has already been a reliable partner for urban light rail design in the city of Ulm for many years.

The new train stops meet the increased demand for sustainable mobility by rail, also outside of the classic urban areas. The new regional commuter railway system is intended to strengthen the infrastructure and to make mobility in the Memmingen area future-proof. The Sweco team attaches particular importance to constructively involving the respective communities as well as the city of Memmingen in the planning process. – Philip Kutschera, project manager at Sweco